Call processing system and method of use转让专利
申请号 : US16578436
文献号 : US11190639B2
文献日 : 2021-11-30
发明人 : Cornelius Van Dellen, II , Michael J. Klein
申请人 : Fallback Services, LLC
摘要 :
权利要求 :
What is claimed is:
说明书 :
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/736,257 entitled CALL PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE, filed on Sep. 25, 2018, by Cornelius Van Dellen II, et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The disclosure relates to a calling system and, more particularly, to systems and methods configured to access information and process voice calls.
Consumers are becoming increasingly dependent on mobile devices, not only to conveniently complete phone calls and access the internet but also to store their personal information. For example, many mobile device users forego committing even some of the most important contact numbers and account information to memory due to the convenience of storing such information on their mobile device. However, as the dependence on the storage of such information increases, users of mobile devices are also more disadvantaged if the mobile device is lost, stolen, and/or broken. Accordingly, the disclosure provides for systems and methods that may be used to assist users of mobile devices in retrieving important contact information.
In at least one aspect, a system for accessing information via a voice device is disclosed. The system comprises a call router configured to initiate and receive calls and at least one application server in communication with the call router via a network. The at least one application server is configured to receive a call from the voice device and access a user account stored in a memory. The application server is further configured to access a plurality of contacts of the user account and receive a contact selection of a selected contact. The application server is further configured to assume an account identification of the user account for one or more communications and control a submission of a message associated with the assumed account identification to a mobile device of the selected contact.
Aspects of the disclosure may comprise one or more of the following features and/or operations:
- the at least one application server is further configured to prompt a caller for an account identification; and access the user account stored in the memory indicated by the account identification;
- the at least one application server is further configured to prompt a caller for an account password for the user account; and access the user account in response to the password matching a stored password for the user account stored in the memory;
- the at least one application server is further configured to delay for a predetermined period of time following the submission of a message associated with the assumed account identification, and following the predetermined period, initiate a voice call from with the assumed account identification to the selected contact;
- the at least one application server is further configured to announce a plurality of communication options for each of the contacts to a caller; and receive a communication selection identifying a selected communication option.
- the communication options comprise a selection of a voice call to the selected contact, a custom message to the selected contact, and at least one previously stored message configured to automated submission to the selected contact;
- the previously stored message comprises at least one of a previously recorded voice message and a preconfigured text message comprising text previously saved in the memory;
- the assumed account identification is configured to emulate the account identification identified via the user account;
- the at least one application server is further configured to initiate the submission of the message associated with the assumed account by communicating caller identification information associated with the assumed account;
- the assumed account information identified by the account identification is associated with a mobile communication device; and/or
- the voice device is a public switched telephone network-connected device or an internet addressable device.
In another aspect, a method for accessing information via a voice device is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a call from the voice device, prompting a caller for an account identification, and receiving an account identification of user account. The method further comprises accessing the user account stored in a memory indicated by the account identification, accessing a plurality of contacts of the user account, and receiving a contact selection of a selected contact. The method further comprises announcing a plurality of communication options based on the contacts to the caller, receiving a communication selection based on the communication options and assuming the account identification of user account for one or more communications. The method further comprises controlling a submission of a message associated with the account identification to a mobile device of the selected contact.
Aspects of the disclosure may comprise one or more of the following features and/or operations:
- prompting the caller for an account password for the user account; and accessing the user account in response to the password matching a stored password for the user account stored in the memory;
- delaying for a predetermined period of time following the submission of a message associated with the assumed account identification, and following the predetermined period, initiating a voice call from with the assumed account identification to the selected contact;
- the communication options comprise a selection of a voice call to the selected contact, a custom message to the selected contact, and at least one previously stored message configured for automated submission to the selected contact; and/or
- the assuming of the user account comprises communicating caller identification information associated with the assumed account.
In yet another aspect, a system for accessing information via a voice device is disclosed. The system comprises a first voice communication device, a second voice communication device, and a call router configured to initiate and receive calls from each of the first voice communication device and the second voice communication device. The system further comprises at least one application server in communication with the call router via a network. The at least one application server is configured to receive a call from the first voice communication device, prompt a caller for an account identification, and access a user account stored in a memory indicated by the account identification. The at least one application server is further configured to access a plurality of contacts of the user account, receive a contact selection of a selected contact, and assume an account identification of the user account for one or more communications. The account information corresponds to the identity of a mobile device. The application server is further configured to control a submission of a communication associated with the assumed account identification of the user account to the second voice communication device.
Aspects of the disclosure may comprise one or more of the following features and/or operations:
- the mobile device different from the first voice communication device and the second voice communication device;
- the communication associated with the assumed account identification comprises at least one of a selection of a voice call to the selected contact, a custom message to the selected contact, and at least one previously stored message configured to automated submission to the selected contact; and/or
- the assumed account identification is configured to emulate the account identification identified via the user account.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present device will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, it is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
Referring generally to
Another consideration related to the loss of a personal mobile device 10 is the loss of identifying information (e.g. caller ID) that is typically communicated from the personal mobile device 10. In typical circumstances, as demonstrated in
Though the personal mobile device 10 and the contact device 14 are referred to as specific devices, these devices may generally correspond to voice devices, which may be similarly configured to the voice device 18. The personal mobile device 10 and the contact device 14 are not labeled in the drawings as voice devices for clarity in order to easily distinguish among the devices discussed herein. In general, the voice device 18 may correspond to a variety of electronic devices, such as landline telephones, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephones, session initiation protocol (SIP) devices, Skype or Gtalk connected devices, etc. In the context of the scenarios described herein, the personal mobile device 10 may correspond to a portable device that may be more susceptible to loss, theft, or damage than conventional landline or permanently tethered telephones.
Referring now to
As a situational example, the system 30 may be configured to assist the user of the personal mobile device 10 in communicating with one or more contacts 42 stored or accessible by the server 34. In operation, the system 30 may be configured to receive a call via the call router 32 and connect the caller (e.g. the user of the mobile device 10 that is broken or lost) with the operator module 40. The operator module 40 may provide a greeting and prompt the caller using the voice device 18 to enter or otherwise provide an account number associated the personal mobile device 10 (e.g. a personal telephone number). In response to receiving the account number, the operator module 40 may access the account associated with the account number and also may prompt the user for a password.
Upon successfully accessing the account associated with the account number of the user, the server 34 may access one or more contacts 42 associated with the account previously stored in a memory. The operator module 40 may announce a menu listing each of the contacts 42 to the user via the call router 32 and the voice device 18. Additionally, the operator module 40 may prompt the user of the voice device 18 to identify a selected contact of the contacts 42 for communication. Upon receiving a selection of one of the contacts 42, the server 34 may initiate a voice call with the contact device 14 associated with the selected contact.
In some embodiments, the system 30 may further be configured to allow the user of the voice device 18 to assume the caller identification information associated with the personal mobile device 10 (e.g. the device that is lost or stolen). Accordingly, upon initiating the call to the contact device 14, the system 30 may supply caller identification to the call router 32 such that the call to the contact device 14 appears to originate from the personal mobile device 10. Additionally, the system 30 may be operable to send one or more predesignated messages to the contact device 14 from the account number associated with the personal mobile device 10. For example, the system 30 may be configured to send a text message (e.g. SMS message, MMS message, etc.) to the contact device 14 alerting the user of the contact device 14 that a call is to be expected from the user of the personal mobile device 10. Accordingly, the system 30 not only provides for a convenient method of recovering personal information but may also provide for a way to place a user of the system 30 in communication with a selected contact while assuming the caller identification information associated with the personal mobile device 10.
As discussed herein, each of the voice devices 18, including the personal mobile device 10 and the contact device 14, as well as additional generic voice devices, may correspond to devices connected via a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or intranet addressable communication devices. Such devices may include but are not limited to, landline telephones, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephones, SIP devices, Skype or Gtalk connected devices, etc. Some of these devices may be operable to communicate via one or more messaging services in addition to being operable to communicate via conventional voice protocols. For example, some of the voice devices 18 discussed herein may be operable to communicate via short message services (SMS) or multimedia message services (MMS). The call router 32 may access the operator module 40 or various applications on the server 34 by mapping a call received from the voice device 18 to the application (e.g. operator module 40). For example, the call router 32 may map calls to the server 34 or any internet-connected address via a universal resource identifier (URI). Accordingly, the system 30 may be operable to access information from a variety of servers and direct calls received by the call router 32 to various applications or modules to achieve the methods described herein. In this way, the disclosure provides for a flexible system that may be implemented in a variety of ways to assist the user of the personal mobile device 10 in recovering from the loss or damage of the mobile device 10.
As discussed herein, the application server 34 may be implemented as a computerized processing system comprising a processor, memory, and one or more input and/or output (I/O) devices (or peripherals) that are communicatively coupled to the call router 32. The server 34 may comprise various controllers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications. Further, the server 34 may include address, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriate communications among the other computer components.
As discussed herein, the processor may be an application-specific or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among several processors associated with the server 34, a semiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chipset), or generally any device for executing software instructions. The memory may include any one or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). Moreover, the memory may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. The memory may have a distributed architecture where various components are situated remote from one another but can be accessed by the processor. In operation, the server 34 may be configured to execute software stored within the memory in order to achieve the various processes discussed herein.
Referring now to
If the account number is identified, the system 30 may prompt the user or caller for an account authentication (e.g. a password, pin, voice recognition, etc.) (60). In step 62, the system 30 may verify the authentication by comparing an input from the caller to a stored authentication code. If the authentication is not verified in step 62, the system 30 may repeat the authentication step n times and terminate the method 50 or call if the authentication is not verified within a predetermined number (n) attempts (64). Upon successful verification of the authentication in step 62, the method 50 may proceed by accessing account information associated with the account number from one or more databases accessed via the server 34 (66).
Upon accessing the account associated with the account number, the method 50 may provide for the presentation of various service options as further discussed in
Following the predetermined time period, the method 50 may continue by calling the selected contact from the user's account by mimicking the originating telephone to match that associated with the user's account (78). For example, a call to the selected contact may be initiated with caller identification information associated with the user account of the personal mobile device 10. If the call is answered by the selected contact, the method 50 may continue by tracking the time for the call, which may be utilized to assess charges for the call (80). Upon conclusion of the call between the voice device 18 (generic voice device) and the contact device 14, the method 50 may be concluded (82).
Referring now to
Following the announcement of the data associated with the selection, the method 50 may return to presenting the service options in step 96. The method 50 may be terminated at any time during the call in response to the voice device 18 being disconnected or an inappropriate user selection, which may result in disconnection of the call (98). Accordingly, the various systems and methods discussed herein may be highly beneficial in assisting a user of a personal mobile device 10 in recovering from loss or destruction of a device 10. Though specific steps and methods of operations are described herein, it shall be understood that the system 30 and associated devices and methods may be used in various combinations without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.
Various aspects of the system 30 may be implemented in software or programming that may be stored in a non-transient computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer-related system or method. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium can be for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Accordingly, various aspects of the system 30 may be embodied in a computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions.
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described device and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the device disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the device as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present device. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present device, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
The above description is considered that of the illustrated embodiments only. Modifications of the device will occur to those skilled in the art and to those who make or use the device. Therefore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes and not intended to limit the scope of the device, which is defined by the following claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law, including the Doctrine of Equivalents.